Awardees

Audrey Kobayashi Selected for AAG Presidential Achievement Award

December 15, 2015

The AAG Presidential Award is given with the purpose of recognizing individuals for their long-term, major contributions to geography. The Past President has the honor of bestowing this distinction on behalf of the discipline and the association.

This year, Past President Mona Domosh will confer the 2016 award to Audrey Kobayashi during the AAG Past President’s Address at the AAG Annual Meeting in San Francisco, which begins March 29-April 2, 2016.

She is recognized for her foundational contributions to understanding the intersectionality of gender, race, class and all forms of socio-economic difference that have reshaped what geography is and can be, and for her insistence that geography and geographers reflect critically on their whiteness.

Through her tireless work as editor, mentor, teacher, colleague, and friend she has strengthened geography by encouraging new and often challenging ways of seeing and understanding our world.

AAG Presidential Achievement Award, Audrey Kobayashi

Awardees

2016 AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography: Michael Goodchild

December 15, 2015

The AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography is given annually to an individual geographer or team of geographers that has demonstrated originality, creativity and significant intellectual breakthroughs in geography. The award includes a prize of $1,000.

We are proud to award the 2016 AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography to Michael F. Goodchild.

Details are forthcoming.

Michael Goodchild, Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography

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AAG Distinguished Teaching Award: Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo

December 9, 2015

The AAG is pleased to present the 2016 AAG Distinguished Teaching Award to Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo.

The 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award is being given to Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo for her contributions to geographic education both within and outside the classroom. She has been a faculty member at SUNY College at Cortland for over 25 years where she is an exemplary teacher-scholar with a strong national and international reputation in the discipline of geography. Johnston-Anumonwo is highly active in geographic education through various organizations such as the National Council on Geographic Education, the New York African Studies Association, and the AP Human Geography Program. In addition, she has published in numerous textbooks on Africa, urbanization, and feminist geography. Finally, her outstanding career in teaching is evident in her dedication to student success.

A citation for Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo follows.

Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo, State University of New York, College at Cortland

Dr. Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo is highly qualified for the Association of American Geographers Distinguished Teaching Award for skillful teaching which incorporates innovative and transformational approaches in curricular and co-curricular endeavors. During her 25-year academic career at SUNY College at Cortland, she has maintained an exemplary record as a teacher-scholar in undergraduate research, graduate courses, in-service teachers’ workshops, and pre-k to high school presentations. Most notably, she has served in expanded leadership roles for the ETS AP Human Geography examination for over ten years, serving a 4-year term on The College Board’s Test Development Committee.

Dr. Johnston-Anumonwo holds a bachelor’s degree in Teacher Education from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, where she was born. She earned a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a PhD from the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University. Professor Johnston-Anumonwo’s portfolio of geographic education has been truly outstanding as evidenced by her letters of support. According to a colleague, her “work has made valuable contributions to geography, as well as to closely aligned disciplines.” She regularly presents her scholarship on Human Geography and African Geography to audiences of educators at the conferences of the National Council of Geographic Education, the Association of Third World Studies, and the New York African Studies Association. She has organized conferences and panels featuring student forums and teachers’ workshops that have underscored transformative and inclusive content and practices in geographic education. Africa is the geographic focus of her teaching and research in gender and development.

Dr. Johnston-Anumonwo’s definitive chapter, “Geography and Gender in Sub-Saharan Africa,“ in the widely read Aryeetey-Attoh’s Geography of Africa textbook, is identified as one of her most influential contributions in light of students and instructors’ acclaim of the piece, now in its 3rd edition. In sum, Dr. Johnston-Anumonwo is an accomplished colleague whose professional horizons continue to expand in ways that enhance the national and international visibility of geography as a discipline. Her dedication to work in geographic education is closely aligned with her teaching and service activities. It is with great honor that she be recognized with the AAG Distinguished Teaching Award.

Awardees

William R. Strong to Receive AAG Gilbert Grosvenor Geographic Education Honors

December 9, 2015

The 2016 Gilbert Grosvenor Geographic Education Honors are presented to William R. Strong in recognition of his extensive contributions to geographic education. Through his foundational work with the Alabama Geographic Alliance and the National Geographic Society’s education program, Strong has worked, and continues to work, with educators and geographers to improve the teaching of geography at the primary and secondary school levels. As a faculty member and long-term chair of the Department of Geography at the University of North Alabama, Strong is also an outstanding geographic educator in his own right while diligently advocating for geography in higher education. Between his work in geographic education and his work as a geographic educator, Strong has had a significant impact on the landscape of geographic education in the United States.

A citation for William R. Strong follows.

William R. Strong, Emeritus Professor, University of North Alabama

The 2016 Gilbert Grosvenor Geographic Education Honors are presented to William R. Strong in recognition of his extensive contributions to geographic education.

Through his foundational work with the Alabama Geographic Alliance and the National Geographic Society’s education program, Strong has worked, and continues to work, with educators and geographers to improve the teaching of geography at the primary and secondary school levels. Strong was a founding member of the Alabama Geographic Alliance in 1987 and continues to serve as its coordinator, a span of twenty-eight years. As the Alabama coordinator, Strong has given countless presentations, workshops, and institutes through the years to support educators in their efforts to improve the teaching of geography in Alabama schools.

At the national level, Strong has worked not only with National Geographic but also with the National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers to improve the teaching of geography. Through these agencies, he has been involved with the Geographic Education National Implementation Project, with the development of National Geography Education Standards, and with the Advanced Placement exam in Human Geography. He has served as the Geographer-in-Residence at the Geography Education Program at the National Geographic Society and as a Fellow of the Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at Texas State University.

Strong is also an outstanding geographic educator and mentor in his own right while diligently advocating for geography in higher education, as a faculty member and long-term chair of the Department of Geography at the University of North Alabama. Strong served as chair of the Department for 29 years, building it into one of the best bachelors and master’s programs in the state and region. For these accomplishments he has received the University of North Alabama’s Academic Affairs Faculty Award for Outstanding Service in 2010 and National Council for Geographic Education’s Distinguished Mentor Award 2015.

Between his work in geographic education and his work as a geographic educator, Strong has had a significant impact on the landscape of geographic education in the United States and is highly deserving of this honor being bestowed on him.

Awardees

AAG Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors: Kavita Pandit

December 9, 2015

The AAG is pleased to award the 2016 AAG Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors to Kavita Pandit.

Kavita Pandit is awarded Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors in recognition of the broad impact of her extraordinary service to geography. She has also held several prominent editorial board memberships and contributed to numerous national and international institutions including the American Geographical Society and the Association of International Educators. Pandit is a steadfast supporter of AAG. She respects the diverse nature of geography in its subfields, its differing institutions, its role in K-12 education, and its application outside of academia. She is truly deserving of this honor.

A citation for Kavita Pandit follows.

Kavita Pandit, University of Georgia

Kavita Pandit is currently Associate Provost for International Education at the University of Georgia. She is also Director of the Office of International Education and serves as the Senior International Officer for a university which has an enrollment of 35,000 students. Prior to assuming this position, she was Senior Vice Provost, State University of New York System. She was recently elected to the Board of NAFSA (Association of International Educators).

In honor of her stalwart support of the Association of American Geographers and the impact of her sustained service and dedication to geography, the 2016 Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Award is presented to Professor Kavita Pandit. Colleagues that know Professor Pandit well indicate that she is a humble person who does not shy away from using her energy and talent to have a transformative impact on our discipline and profession. For over two decades, she has played a critical role in the AAG, and held prominent positions in several high profile international associations. Professor Pandit has served the AAG in several capacities including the International Research and Scholarly Exchange Committee, the Committee on Committees, and she has been a member of the Long Range Planning Committee since 2013. As President of AAG (2006-2007), Professor Pandit demonstrated a commitment to all geographers and her supporters note that a hallmark of her leadership is “one of calmness in a storm” with an unselfish commitment to serving others through creative problem-solving and sustained engagement. Professor Pandit made substantive and lasting contributions to the Healthy Departments Initiative during its early development, and she has continued her work in the goals of this initiative through critical outreach to and support of departments needing advice and input. She has continued to serve the discipline even as she moved into administrative positions at the University of Georgia.

Professor Pandit’s influential work on immigration and international economic development has made significant contributions to several subfields in the discipline. She is coeditor of Migration and Restructuring in the United States and the Introductory Reader for Human Geography. In her current position as Associate Provost for International Education at the University of Georgia, Professor Pandit continues to establish solid administrative structures to promote global learning experiences for students, and to develop international research and instructional collaborations.

She is highly sought after as a speaker and has been invited to give talks at a range of international universities on the topic of international education. As a geographer, with multiple degrees from Ohio State University, she is uniquely positioned to speak to the contribution of geography in solving the world’s problems. This she does with great enthusiasm and passion. Others have noted that she is relentless in her quest to get others to see the value of geography.

For her continuous and unwavering service to the discipline, AAG awards Dr. Kavita Pandit the Ronald Abler Distinguished Service Honor.

Awardees

Carrie Stokes, Aaron Wolf to Receive AAG Gilbert White Public Service Honors

December 9, 2015

The 2016 AAG Gilbert White Public Service Honors are awarded to Carrie Stokes and Aaron Wolf.

Carrie Stokes has been selected as one of two recipients of this year’s AAG Gilbert White Public Service Award. Stokes epitomizes the ‘geographer as leader’ as demonstrated by her unwavering commitment to public service through advancing geography within and beyond government, Through her years of advocacy, leadership and action to promote the use of remote sensing and GIS to inform international development, humanitarian assistance, and climate change mitigation, she has had a profound impact on government policy and its on-the-ground effectiveness around the world, from Bangladesh to Central America. As an unsurpassed ambassador for geography and its ability to transform development programming, she deserves our highest commendation as an “enabler of dreams.”

Aaron Wolf has been selected as one of two recipients of the award given in Gilbert White’s honor. Throughout the world and in multiple contexts (both academic, governmental, and policy), Wolf is known for bringing a humanitarian, benevolent approach to his work on transboundary water resources. He combines environmental science with strategies from conflict/dispute resolution and spiritual teaching from a variety of faiths. He has also established himself as a ‘meticulous scholar’ driven by a ‘sense of duty’. He was recently recognized for his work to motivate a generation of once doubting decision makers entrenched in Middle East water politics. He is indeed a giant in the field.

Citations for Carrie Stokes and Aaron Wolf follow.

Carrie Stokes, United States Agency for International Development

Carrie Stokes is awarded the 2016 Association of American Geographers Gilbert White Public Service award in recognition of her tireless efforts to promote geography and mobilize the power of geographic insights in the U.S. government’s development and humanitarian work. Carrie established and now runs the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) GeoCenter, a major initiative dedicated to applying geographical analysis to international development programming.

Carrie also currently serves as Geographer of USAID, the first to hold this position. Under her tireless leadership, the GeoCenter has become a widely respected “model of success” that has provided unprecedented geographical analysis to support development interventions around the globe. Carrie’s geospatial expertise, leadership skills, and “bridge-building” talents have been fundamental to ensuring that spatial insights inform all aspects of development action.

Prior to establishing the GeoCenter, Carrie developed and managed SERVIR, a partnership between USAID and NASA devoted to building developing countries’ capacities to use geospatial technologies to inform policy, particularly in the context of climate change mitigation.

Carrie earned a BA in International Studies/Human and Natural Ecology from Emory University, after which she served in the Peace Corps as an Environmental Protection Volunteer in Niger. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Science from Indiana University. She subsequently worked as a climate change researcher, a GIS analyst, and an environmental educator before beginning at USAID as a global climate change specialist.

Carrie Stokes clearly embodies Gilbert White’s deep commitment to improving human welfare through social policy. For her exceptional service to geography in the public service, we honor Carrie Stokes.

Aaron Wolf, Oregon State University

aron Wolf is being presented with the Gilbert White Public Service Award in recognition of his work on the important issue of global water negotiations. His work on water, conflict and peace has a particular connection to the legacy of Gilbert White in seeking peaceful approaches to international competition over natural resources and in taking geographic ideas beyond the discipline to public policy.

In addition to his position as Professor of Geography at Oregon State University, Aaron Wolf is also Director and Founding Partner, Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters, a consortium of 10 universities on five continents which supports focused training, research, and service; Director, Program in Water Conflict Management & Transformation ; a Member of the Water Permanent Monitoring Programme, World Federation of Scientists, and Member, River and Lake Basins Ecosystems Working Group of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Over the course of his career, Wolf has been involved in developing strategies for resolving water aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including co-authoring a State Department reference text, and participating in both official and “track II” meetings between co-riparians. He is a trained mediator/facilitator and has offered workshops, facilitations, and mediation in basins throughout the world. He developed and coordinates the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, which includes a computer compilation of 400 water related treaties, negotiating notes and background material on fourteen case-studies of conflict resolution among other things.

A college from Hebrew sums up Professor Wolf’s success by identifying the factors that contribute to his success — his outstanding scholarship; his engaging personality; and his readiness to undertake extensive exhausting travel and assignments for the public good. Others have noted the way he works with colleagues, especially how he has focused his own time on understanding the potential role of spirituality in understanding international problem solving-a focus on positive transformation.

He has been described as a ‘consummate professional geographer.’ His contributions to public service are an integral part of his research – others might say his life. What may be of particular interest says one of his nominees is his special gift to motivate a generation of once-doubting decision-makers entrenched in Middle East water politics-Palestinian, Jordanian, and Israeli policy-makers alike.

Wolf has worked relentlessly to further peaceful solution to problems that affect countries joined together by the fate of nature. For these many reasons the 2016 Gilbert White Public Service Award is presented to Dr. Aaron Wolf for his extraordinary service to the discipline throughout his career.

AAG Gilbert White Public Service Honors, AAG Honors, Aaron Wolf, Carrie Stokes

Awardees

AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors: Linda Mearns

December 9, 2015

The 2016 AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors is presented to Linda Mearns.

The 2016 Distinguished Scholarship Award is going to Linda Mearns for her pioneering and agenda-setting contributions to the field of climate change assessment science, particularly her sustained efforts to understand how climate change will be translated into climate variability and extremes and to model climate change at the regional level. She has made unparalleled contributions to international and national climate change assessment efforts, including authorship on four assessment reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and has led numerous climate assessment projects, including directorship of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. “Linda’s sustained and impressive record of scholarship makes her highly deserving of this award.”

Citation for Linda Mearns follows.

Linda Mearns, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Linda Mearns is a leading scholar in the fields of geography and climate science. Trained as a Ph.D. geographer at UCLA, she has spent most of her career as a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado where she serves as Director of NCAR’s Weather and Climate Impacts Assessment Science Program and Head of the Regional Integrated Sciences Collective (RISC).

Linda is a leader in the development of climate change assessment science. Her contributions in this area are numerous and include foundational work on estimation of climate change impacts on agro-ecosystems, pioneering studies of dynamical downscaling in regional climate models, and important contributions to understanding of sources of uncertainty in climate change projections. Her landmark papers include highly cited journal articles in Science, the Journal of Geophysical Research, Journal of Climate and Climatic Change.

Linda has also made major contributions to international climate change assessment efforts, including authorship on the second, third, fourth, and fifth IPCC Assessment reports. It is especially noteworthy that Linda was an author for two chapters of the IPCC Third Assessment report, one for Working Group I (Physical Science) and another for Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability). This accomplishment highlights Linda’s remarkable capacity to bridge the physical and human dimensions of climate change.

The North American Regional Climate Change Program (NARCCAP) represents another of Linda’s invaluable contributions to the climate assessment science. Linda was the lead principal investigator of this recent (>$10 million) effort, coordinating six research teams in the preparation of a suite of dynamically-downscaled projections for North America. Hundreds of research and assessment efforts have employed these high-resolution NARCCAP scenarios, and geographers, in particular, have made extensive use of the scenarios in their research and outreach to stakeholders and policymakers.

Although Linda is at a research center rather than a university, she has also played an important role in fostering the next generation of scientists through her mentorship of junior scholars. For more than three decades, she has supported and encouraged the careers of countless junior scientists, especially women climatologists, many of whom have gone on to pursue highly successful careers in geography and elsewhere. In addition to support of female scientists, Linda has also been an advocate for many other underrepresented groups in science, particularly developing world scientists within the IPCC.

As summarized by one of her letters of support, Linda “demonstrates a brand of sustained, scientific leadership that is expanded by a geographic perspective, and is essential to address the needs of the future.” For these reasons, the 2016 AAG Distinguished Scholarship Award is awarded to Linda Mearns.

AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors, AAG Honors, Linda Mearns

Linda aenter for Atmospheric Research

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AAG Lifetime Achievement Honors: Susan Christopherson, George Malanson

December 9, 2015

The 2016 AAG Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to Susan Christopherson and George Malanson.

The AAG Honors Committee chose to recognize Susan Christopherson as one of the awardees for the Lifetime Achievement Award for her considerable and long standing contributions to economic geography research, public engagement, teaching, and service. Her work on media, optics, agriculture, renewable energy, and manufacturing has included deep engagement with local economic development authorities to produce research that contributes to spatially and socially balanced economic growth. Christopherson’s more recent work on nontraditional energy sources has continued this tradition, including her appointment to a National Research Council panel to consider the implications of shale gas and oil development for local communities and the dissemination of policy reports on the risks and impacts of crude oil rail transport. As the first woman to be promoted to full professor within her department as well as the first female chair, she has also broken ground in terms of increasing diversity within the field of economic geography, which she has also done through her mentoring and teaching.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to George Malanson for his work tackling one of the most challenging and highly charged issues of our time — climate change. His work is exceptional in its recognition of the complexity of the factors impacting our rapidly changing environment — its response to natural disturbance and human impact. Indeed, he is regarded as one of the world’s leading scientists on the topic and has come to be recognized for his path breaking and thoughtful research, insights informed by science, creativity, scholarly productivity, and service. He is also widely respected as a mentor and instructor. Included among his many accomplishments is his 1993 book, ‘Riparian Landscapes’ (1993). It is regarded by many as seminal in landscape-ecological research. His work and contributions are praiseworthy and indeed he is highly deserving of the AAG Lifetime Achievement Award.

Citations for Susan Christopherson and George Malanson follow below.

Susan Christopherson, Cornell University

The 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award is being given to Susan Christopherson for her contributions to economic geography in terms of research and public engagement as well as her productive history of teaching and mentoring. The committee was most impressed with the way Susan has not only pushed the boundaries of academic inquiry but has done so in a way that addresses issues of public concern and provides information to policymakers and citizens alike.

Though not housed in a geography department, Susan has always identified as a geographer. Her work on regional economic development has focused on the importance of specific industries such as media, optics, agriculture, renewable energy, and manufacturing. She has been at the forefront of debates on the new regionalism, the creative economy, the precarity of labor, and learning regions, always emphasizing the importance of local context and networks in shaping and mediating national and global economic and social processes. Equally important, Susan’s work has included deep engagement with local economic development authorities to produce research that contributes to spatially and socially balanced economic growth. She has produced multiple policy reports for the Brooking Institution, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and state and regional authorities. Many of these reports have centered around frequently-cited statistics on job creation, trying to understand the precise economic impact of a specific industry to help policymakers make better choices and to simultaneously help households earn better livelihoods.

Susan’s more recent work on nontraditional energy sources has continued this tradition of integrating academic and policy research. This includes her appointment to a National Research Council panel to consider the implications of shale gas and oil development for local communities in New York and Pennsylvania (the governor of New York later banned fracking in the state). She has also disseminated research and policy reports on the risks and impacts of crude oil rail transport, an issue which is growing in importance within North America. She has been interviewed by multiple newspapers, as well as radio and TV stations for her highly relevant work.

Susan has also broken ground in terms of increasing diversity within the field of economic geography by pushing for the consideration of women’s labor and care work as part of our economic systems. She was the first woman to be promoted to full professor within her department, as well as the first female chair of that department just this past year. She is one of the founding editors for The Cambridge Journal on Regions, Economy and Society, which is very well-regarded for a relatively new journal. Susan’s mentoring and teaching have also been invaluable to the discipline, whether founding a study abroad program for undergraduates, teaching her own graduate students, or mentoring junior faculty at a wide variety of institutions. For all of these reasons, the Honors Committee is pleased to award the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award to Susan Christopherson.

George Malanson, University of Iowa

The AAG Lifetime Achievement Award goes to George Malanson who holds the position of Coleman – Miller Professor in the Department of Geographical & Sustainability Science at the University of Iowa while simultaneously serving as Program Director, Population & Community Ecology Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Malanson began his career at Williams College where he took a Bachelor’s degree in Art. Prior to completing his Master’s in Geography at the University of Utah, he studied Hindi at the U. S. Department of State, Foreign Service Institute. He earned his PhD at UCLA under the tutelage of W. E. Westman.

Malanson’s career trajectory has been wide ranging and varied. He served as an illustrator/draftsman with the US Army, a cartographic draftsman with the Wm Moore Survey and Mapping Co, and bio-geographer with the Archaeology Division of the ESCA Tech Corporation—all of which prepared him for his exceptional approach to scholarship which many have described as “transformative; inherently integrative and explicitly positioned within geographic traditions and debates.”

Professor Malanson Prof. Malanson has (co)-authored more than 170 journal articles, (co)-authored two books and (co)-edited three multi-author contributions. His work has been cited more than 2400 times and he has been involved research that has received nearly $3.5 million of external funding. Combined, these place Prof. Malanson in the very upper-echelon of physical geographers-indeed all geographers.

One of the striking characteristics of Malanson’s work is linking natural factors and processes at different scales (micro, local, regional) with human impact. It is this complex, synthetic view that is of major importance for truly understanding the rapidly changing environment. As one letter writer noted, George’s work tackles some of the biggest challenges of the decades to come – the relationship between conservation, human impact, and natural disturbance.

He has been described as a creative thinker, an innovator, and a researcher with extensive knowledge of both the literature and technical innovations. “Many physical geographers generate empirical results, but Dr. Malanson carries his work to the next phase and contributes new understandings to the theoretical and predictive patterns of natural landscapes.”

Based on these many accomplishments and the high regard he is accorded in the profession by his students and peers, we recognize George Malanson and award him the AAG Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awardees

2016 AAG Honors Announced

December 9, 2015

The AAG is pleased to announce the selection of eight Honorees who will receive the 2016 AAG Honors in one of six categories. Recipients to be honored at an annual awards luncheon during the AAG Annual Meeting are:

Susan Christopherson, Cornell University, Lifetime Achievement Award
George Malanson, University of Iowa, Lifetime Achievement Award
Aaron Wolf, Oregon State University, Gilbert White Public Service Award
Linda Mearns, National Center for Atmospheric Research, AAG Distinguished Scholarship Award
Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo, State University of New York, College at Cortland, Distinguished Teaching Award
Kavita Pandit, University of Georgia, Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors
Carrie Stokes, United States Agency for International Development, Gilbert White Public Service Award
William R. Strong, Emeritus Professor, University of North Alabama, Gilbert Grosvenor Geographic Education Honors

AAG Honors are the highest awards offered by the Association of American Geographers. They are offered annually to recognize outstanding accomplishments by members in research & scholarship, teaching, education, service to the discipline, public service outside academe and for lifetime achievement. Although the AAG and its specialty groups make other important awards (see Grants and Awards), AAG Honors remains among the most prestigious awards in American geography and have been awarded since 1951 (complete list).

Nominations are invited from individual AAG members, specialty groups, affinity groups, departments, and other interested parties. Currently, honors are awarded in several categories, including Distinguished Teaching Honors, Gilbert F. White Distinguished Public Service Honors, Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors, Gilbert Grosvenor Honors for Geographic Education, Distinguished Scholarship Honors, and Lifetime Achievement Honors.

All AAG awards will be presented at the upcoming AAG Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif., during a special awards luncheon on Saturday, April 2, 2016.

About the Honorees

(select a name to view citations)

Susan Christopherson is recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for her considerable and long standing contributions to research, public engagement, teaching, and service. Her work on media, optics, agriculture, renewable energy, and manufacturing has included engagement with local economic development authorities to produce research that contributes to spatially and socially balanced economic growth. Christopherson’s more recent work on nontraditional energy sources has continued this tradition, including her appointment to a National Research Council panel to consider the implications of shale gas and oil development for local communities and the dissemination of policy reports on the risks and impacts of crude oil rail transport. As the first woman to be promoted to full professor within her department as well as the first female chair, she has also broken ground in terms of increasing diversity within the field of economic geography, which she has also done through her mentoring and teaching.

George Malanson’s work tackles one of the most challenging and highly charged issues of our time – climate change. His work is exceptional in its recognition of the complexity of the factors impacting our rapidly changing environment — its response to natural disturbance and human impact. Indeed, he is regarded as one of the world’s leading scientists on the topic and has come to be recognized for his path breaking and thoughtful research, insights informed by science, creativity, scholarly productivity, and service. He is also widely respected as a mentor and instructor. Included among his many accomplishments is his 1993 book, ‘Riparian Landscapes’ (1993). It is regarded by many as seminal in landscape-ecological research. His work and contributions are praiseworthy and indeed he is highly deserving of the AAG Lifetime Achievement Award.

Aaron Wolf has been selected as one of two recipients of the award given in Gilbert White’s honor. Throughout the world and in multiple contexts (both academic, governmental, and policy), Wolf is known for bringing a humanitarian, benevolent approach to his work on transboundary water resources. He combines environmental science with strategies from conflict/dispute resolution and spiritual teaching from a variety of faiths. He has also established himself as a ‘meticulous scholar’ driven by a ‘sense of duty’. He was recently recognized for his work to motivate a generation of once doubting decision makers entrenched in Middle East water politics. He is indeed a giant in the field.

This year’s 2016 Distinguished Scholarship Award is going to Linda Mearns for her pioneering and agenda setting contributions to the field of climate change assessment science, particularly her sustained efforts to understand how climate change will be translated into climate variability and extremes and to model climate change at the regional level. She has made unparalleled contributions to international and national climate change assessment efforts, including authorship on four assessment reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and has led numerous climate assessment projects, including directorship of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. Linda’s sustained and impressive record of scholarship makes her highly deserving of this award.

Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo is recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award for her exemplary contributions to geographic education both within and outside the classroom. She has been a faculty member at SUNY College at Cortland for over 25 years. She is an exceptional teacher-scholar with a strong national and international reputation in the discipline of geography. Johnston-Anumonwo is highly active in geographic education through various organizations such as the National Council on Geographic Education, the New York African Studies Association, and the AP Human Geography Program. In addition, she has published in numerous textbooks on Africa, urbanization, and feminist geography. Finally, her outstanding career in teaching is evident in her dedication to student success.

Kavita Pandit is awarded Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors in recognition of the broad impact of her extraordinary service to geography. Pandit’s many contributions include serving as AAG President and regional councilor of the Southeastern Division of the organization; leadership roles in the Population Specialty Group of AAG; and distinguished appointments and leadership positions in international education. She has also held several prominent editorial board memberships and contributed to numerous national and international institutions including the American Geographical Society and the Association of International Educators. Pandit is a steadfast supporter of AAG. She respects the diverse nature of geography in its subfields, its differing institutions, its role in K-12 education, and its application outside of academia. She is truly deserving of this honor.

Carrie Stokes has been selected as one of two recipients of this year’s Gilbert White Public Service Award. Stokes epitomizes the ‘geographer as leader’ as demonstrated by her unwavering commitment to public service through advancing geography within and beyond government, Through her years of advocacy, leadership and action to promote the use of remote sensing and GIS to inform international development, humanitarian assistance, and climate change mitigation, she has had a profound impact on government policy and its on-the-ground effectiveness around the world, from Bangladesh to Central America. As an unsurpassed ambassador for geography and its ability to transform development programming, she deserves our highest commendation as an “enabler of dreams.”

Through his foundational work with the Alabama Geographic Alliance and the National Geographic Society’s education program, William Strong has worked, and continues to work, with educators and geographers to improve the teaching of geography at the primary and secondary school levels. As a faculty member and long-term chair of the Department of Geography at the University of North Alabama, Strong is also an outstanding geographic educator in his own right while diligently advocating for geography in higher education. Between his work in geographic education and his work as a geographic educator, Strong has had a significant impact on the landscape of geographic education in the United States. He is being recognized here for his extensive and selfless contributions to geographic education.

Awardees

AAG Names Judith Butler as the 2016 Honorary Geographer

November 4, 2015

The Association of American Geographers has named Judith Butler as its 2016 Honorary Geographer. She is the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and Program in Critical Theory at the University of California at Berkeley.

Butler has advocated lesbian and gay rights movements and has been outspoken on many modern political matters. Two of her influential books, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex, challenge notions of gender and develop her theory of gender performativity, which is now a prominent position in feminist and queer scholarship. Butler studied philosophy at Yale University where she received her B.A. and her Ph.D.

In making its selection, the AAG recognized Butler’s foundational contributions to feminist and queer theory, cultural studies, and feminist and moral philosophy. Her work has transformed the ways in which scholars have understood gender and sexual identities and has thus fundamentally reshaped the theoretical underpinnings of the social and the spatial.

As such, her continuing interrogations of identity and subjectivity have inspired and informed feminist geography, queer, critical, and political theory in geography, and sexuality and space studies. In addition, as a political academic and activist she has served as a role model for many geographers who understand the deep entanglements of the academic and the political. This award, therefore, acknowledges her fundamental role in shaping geographic practices, theories, and actions.

AAG Past President Mona Domosh will confer the 2016 AAG Honorary Geographer Award upon Judith Butler at the 2016 AAG Annual Meeting in San Francisco during her plenary session, “Demography in the Ethics of Non-Violence,” on Tuesday, March 29. Butler’s plenary will focus on “A principled approach to non-violence that often admits to exceptions where violence is conceded as legitimate. To what extent does the exception to nonviolence in the name of self-defense or for close kin implicitly make a distinction between lives worth saving and dispensable lives? A practice of non-violence has to take into account the demographic distribution of grievability that establishes which lives are worthy of safeguarding and which are less worthy or not worthy at all. Otherwise, both biopolitics and the logic of war can permeate calculations about when and where non-violence can be invoked. Does the demographic challenge revise our approach to non-violence? and if so, how?”

Every year the AAG bestows its Honorary Geographer Award on an individual to recognize excellence in the arts, research, teaching, and writing on geographic topics by non-geographers. Previous awardees have included sociologist Saskia Sassen, architect Maya Lin, economist Jeffrey Sachs, biologist Stephen J. Gould, political scientist Cynthia Enloe, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, neuroscientist Nora Volkow, and authors Calvin Trillin, Barbara Kingsolver, and Barry Lopez.

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